That Good Part

Here we have some of Lehi’s last words to his sons:

I have spoken these few words unto you all, my sons, in the last days of my probation; and I have chosen the good part, according to the words of the prophet. And I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls. (2 Ne. 2:30)

I like when Lehi says, “I have chosen the good part, according to the words of the prophet.” I don’t think we have the prophet’s words he was referring to, but it is interesting that we do have the words of Jesus to Martha as Mary heard him and Martha was cumbered with much serving—“ Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). It could be that Jesus was quoting the same prophet Lehi was, and we just don’t have that source text anymore.

Beside those textual things, it also makes you think about choices. When we think about our choices and priorities in life, can we say that we are choosing that good part? Are there any good parts we leave on the table, or are there bad parts we could let go of to make room for more good parts? Are there useless things we could get rid of?

I’m grateful for the Atonement of Christ that changes me so that I can choose the good parts and let go of the bad parts. He makes us free to do that so we aren’t stuck. He makes it possible for us to fight the natural man or woman and win.

When the Lord commands Lehi to move on

9 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord spake unto my father by night, and commanded him that on the morrow he should take his journey into the wilderness.

10 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.

11 And it came to pass that we did gather together whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness, and all the remainder of our provisions which the Lord had given unto us; and we did take seed of every kind that we might carry into the wilderness. (1 Nephi 16:9-11)

Up to this point, Lehi had done everything the Lord had commanded him. He’d left Jerusalem with his family, he’d sent his sons to get the plates, and he’d sent his sons to get Ishmael’s family. Now comes a new commandment to journey in the wilderness and start on the morrow.

I’d always thought it was a nice thing that the Lord also provided Lehi with the Liahona that same night to give him encouragement and direction to move on as he was told. This time I also noticed a factor that might have kept Lehi from moving. Verse 11 mentions they packed up “all the remainder” of their provisions, and when they travel four days, they start hunting animals for food by the way.  So it seems that their provisions were starting to run low at the time they were told to move.

I wonder if not having much food would make moving difficult. If I were them, I might have wondered if I was going to be journeying toward food or away from it. Depending on their perspective, the food situation might have tested their faith to journey, or it might have motivated them further.

Thinking about this seems to point to a lesson—the Lord may not wait until we are completely set with perfect conditions (like plenty of food) before He asks us to do things. He might ask at a time that seems inconvenient, or when we’re struggling with other issues. Obviously it’s going to take faith to obey in those kinds of situations.  It makes me think of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, who were called on a mission and left even though both they and their families were sick and poor. (Remember how they mustered the strength to shout "Hurrah for Israel" to put up a brave front for their wives as they left?) What examples!

The Father of Lies

17 And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.

18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. (2 Nephi 2:17-18)

I noticed as I was reading these verses that Lehi has just given us a little about premortal life, and even more interesting, he says some of this is according to what he has read. So the brass plates had some info on them about premortal life, particularly the origin of the devil as 1) once being an angel of light, 2) had fallen from heaven, and 3) his fall made him miserable forever, and 4) his goal became to make mankind miserable as well.

Lehi emphasizes the devil is the father of all lies, and reiterates the arguments used to get Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit. It’s sort of an interesting challenge to think about where the lies are.

“ye shall not die” – It is true Adam and Eve did not physically die immediately. Their lives were prolonged so they could repent. But they did die spiritually at once. Did Adam and Eve know that? They may not have, in which case Satan was exploiting terminology and lying in a way they would not have understood yet.

“ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil” – What did Satan mean by “know” here? Know intellectually? If so, Adam and Eve already knew they should not eat the fruit, and Satan was trying to convince them they didn’t really know. Did Satan mean “know by experience”? But you don’t have to do evil to experience it. Sooner or later it will be done to you. Know by doing evil? Does God get to be God by doing both good and evil? By doing good, yes.  By doing evil, no.  Jesus hasn’t done evil, and He is part of the Godhead. So that’s a lie about what it takes to become like God.

In Genesis there is an additional wrinkle thrown in, an implication that God knew eating the fruit would open their eyes, implying He forbade it to keep them out of godhood. The lie there is a malicious slander against God’s motives for forbidding the fruit.

I can see Satan was already attacking what must have been a very visible desire in Adam and Eve to become like God. He was trying to turn them out of the right way.

Another thought I had is about that title “father of lies.”  I wondered who first thought of it, and how they came up with it. In what way was Satan a father of lies? I realized they were comparing how Satan works to the conception process. Satan injects little thoughts/lies in our minds. If we believe those lies, sin conceives in our hearts.  

So now I’ll ask you: how does knowing this help us?

Lehi’s argument for the existence of God

And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away. (2 Nephi 2:13)

I think it is interesting how Lehi argues for the existence of God with a series of negated circumstances. “Take away this, and you don’t have this other thing, which removes this other thing.”

I’m going to go through his reasons with the positive side, because there is at least one step that I’ve had troubles with that required me to fill a wider gap and follow Lehi’s reasoning. 

Looking at the beginning and the end points, Lehi argues that the existence of a law (by which I think he means moral law) leads him to believe in a God.

If there is a law, then there is righteousness and sin. Some will follow the law, and some don’t.

If there are some that follow the law, then there must also be some that have mastered the law, who keep it in every particular and use it to benefit others. These must be what we would call God(s).

Also, if there be righteousness and sin, then there must also be consequences—reward and punishment. Otherwise there is no significance and meaning to either righteousness or sin.

If there is a Master of the law, then it would make sense for the Master to have a hand in reward and punishment. (In fact, we require our earthly dispensers of justice to be as morally upright as possible, and we are terribly annoyed and distrustful when they are not.)

Then there is a bit of a leap between laws with consequences and the creation. If there’s no righteousness or sin, then there is no God. Stated slightly differently and adding steps, If there is no law to master, then there is no Master of it, thus no God.  If God is not, then we and the earth are not.  So it implies there is a link between moral mastery and the powers of creation. One who keeps the moral laws will certainly find out and follow all the laws of the elements and material existence and follow these too, prolifically creating new things to benefit others, and perhaps being so clever as to streamline things such that creations create more of themselves.

The practical side of this is that laws exist, and we can either find out what they are through trial and error, or we can learn from the Master and make faster progress.  If we learn quickly and follow, we are promised righteousness and happiness proportional to our obedience.  Moral laws have been given to us, and we have the opportunity of learning about the laws of nature through experimentation. 

Probably this line of reasoning would not satisfy relativists. People versed in philosophy might have troubles with definitions and say this is all intuiting too far, but to me Lehi’s argument is satisfying.  In an extremely brief way, it points out our conscience is one of the best indicators that there is a God. I think C.S. Lewis gave  a more extended version of a similar line of reasoning in his book “Mere Christianity” that is also worth reading.

All the Paths in Lehi’s Dream

28 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. . . .

31 And he also saw other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building.

32 And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads. (1 Nephi 8: 28, 31-32)

These verses stuck out to me recently. It was surprising to me to realize that there wasn’t just the strait and narrow path in Lehi’s dream. It wasn’t the only road in the field. There were forbidden paths (probably dangerous) and strange paths (strange probably in the sense of “foreign”).

We don’t know much about how Lehi knew those paths were forbidden or strange. Maybe it was one of those things that you just know in a dream without having to be told.

But all those people took those paths for some reason, thinking the paths would take them someplace they wanted.

1) People headed for the great and spacious building. Why? Because they wanted pride and to feel superior and to look down at and scorn people.

2) People who were at the tree and who were ashamed of partaking of the fruit wanted something else—approval of crowds?—more than the fruit, or love of God.

3) What about the people wandering in strange roads and forbidden paths? What was at the end of those roads that they wanted? We don’t know, but odds are it was something forbidden and strange, respectively.

Among all these different paths, there is the path to the tree of life (love of God). The people who got to the tree and stayed there did it because that’s what they wanted. 

In thinking about all these paths as representations of ways people take to get what they want, it has made me examine my motives and why I do what I do to keep the commandments. Do I do it because I know I should and that’s how I was taught? Yes. Do I do it because I love the Lord and want more of His love in my life? How strong a motive is my love of God and desire to receive His love?  For me I think it is subconscious. Truthfully, I think a bit more about God’s blessings than His love.  Perhaps that’s something I can work on.

So here’s a question to ponder today: what do you want most deep down, and what road are you taking to get it? Do you know why you want it? Whatever you and I want, we think it will make us happy. Will it?  Is God’s love involved?

How Lehi Comes to the Tree of Life: A Faster Way?

10 And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.

11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen. (1 Nephi 8:10-11)

I was reading through the account of Lehi’s dream of the tree of life, and I suddenly noticed Lehi’s method of getting to the tree is a bit different than the other ways he describes. He doesn’t notice a path or an iron rod. He sees the tree, knows what it offers to him, and he goes forth and partakes of the fruit. It is like he is so focused on it that there are no obstacles, no distractions in his way.

Then, when at the tree, he looks around and wants other people to have it too. Then he begins to see the obstacles and distractions that others deal with. In the case of his family, they don’t seem to know which way to go, so Lehi calls to them to get to the path, and some grab the path and the tree while others want the great and spacious building.

I wonder if this difference in methods tells us that there is a faster way to the tree (the love of God) than the path and the iron rod. It seems like Lehi’s focus on the tree—see, want, get—gets him there faster. It reminds me of some stories of converts who as soon as they hear, they accept, act, and are blessed.  There have been a few gospel principles that I have adopted into my life that way. Others I have had to be convinced of over time through scripture study and my own experience and experimenting on the word.

So, I have to ask myself, do I see an offer of God’s love for me? Do I act to lay hold on it, or am I brought to the love of God through obedience and scripture study? I think I’ve been brought to it more gradually, but noticing this in Lehi’s dream shows me I could try looking for God’s love being offered me and act to respond.

Lehi’s Dream: Three Tools of Satan, Three Tools of God

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16 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.

17 And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.

18 And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God…. (1 Nephi 12:16-18)

I notice that in Lehi’s dream (or as it is interpreted to Nephi by the angel), there are three elements that Satan uses as his tools.

1) The filthy river of water.  This is not a clear river. It’s carrying a ton of silt. I think the river can express sinfulness that is immersive and addicting, the kinds of sins that can make one think everything is dirty.  It is aptly described as the depths of hell.  This is not the kind of river a person can just wade in a little and walk out of. It’s worse than quicksand. It’s called “the depths of hell” for a reason.

2) The mists of darkness. Mists are nebulous and insubstantial, but they make things look different and hazy. I think mists are a great way to express how Satan’s temptations mess with our perceptions and try to make us think that things are different than what they really are.

3) The large and spacious building. Manmade, yet unstable, since it eventually falls. It looks like it would provide shelter from the elements, like it would be comfortable. But it is inherently unsafe. (I have to wonder if we make our own great and spacious buildings.) It looks like it would be a better, more interesting destination than that tree over there. A fancy-but-unsafe building is an excellent symbol for pride. Also, the way it gathers a judgmental, scornful crowd captures pride’s workings in larger society. Even if it feels like it is safe to go with the crowd, wrong is still wrong, and eventually it will be proven so.

So, we’re not just to beware of the mists of temptation, but also pride and filthiness.

Compare these things to the instruments of God, which are the path, the rod, and the tree with its fruit.

1) The path.  It’s the only safe way with sure footing and a desirable destination. There aren’t rocks or obstacles or holes in it. (Only Satan tries to make us think there are.) To me the way we walk in the path teaches that God gives us things to do that help us progress.

2) The rod. It’s a fail-safe for the path and works in tandem with it.  If you can’t see the way to go, you can feel it through the rod. For every place you are on the path, there is rod there to guide you.  Also, anyone who honestly grabs and holds the rod will get on the path.  The rod is guidance that God gives us through revelation and the scriptures. 

3) The fruit. The fruit seems to me to be both the goal and nourishment along the way.  God’s love nourishes us with sweet tastes that point us to a future hope of exalted bliss, and isn’t the fullness is also the reward?  (This is perhaps the place where it seems like the dream breaks down for me as an allegory.)

So, I see that God uses gospel progression, revelation, and love as His tools during this life.

If we can just choose more of God’s tools and reject Satan’s tools!

Some thoughts on Lehi’s army shielding and attacking

35 And as the Lamanites had passed the hill Riplah, and came into the valley, and began to cross the river Sidon, the army which was concealed on the south of the hill, which was led by a man whose name was Lehi, and he led his army forth and encircled the Lamanites about on the east in their rear.

36 And it came to pass that the Lamanites, when they saw the Nephites coming upon them in their rear, turned them about and began to contend with the army of Lehi.

37 And the work of death commenced on both sides, but it was more dreadful on the part of the Lamanites, for their nakedness was exposed to the heavy blows of the Nephites with their swords and their cimeters, which brought death almost at every stroke.

38 While on the other hand, there was now and then a man fell among the Nephites, by their swords and the loss of blood, they being shielded from the more vital parts of the body, or the more vital parts of the body being shielded from the strokes of the Lamanites, by their breastplates, and their armshields, and their head-plates; and thus the Nephites did carry on the work of death among the Lamanites. (Ama 43:35-38)

In these verses is described how the army leader Lehi encircled the invading Lamanites in the rear, which forced them to turn and fight, and how the unarmored Lamanites were killed at almost every stroke while the armored Nephites only occasionally fell from the loss of blood.

It hit me that there are several strategies used here that are often missed.

First, Lehi’s men attacked the rear of the Lamanite army. It is possible the Lamanites front-loaded their greatest and most confident warriors and put the weakest at the back. If so, then attacking their rear gave Lehi’s men an advantage and not just that of surprise.

Second, it says the Lamanites were exposed and nearly every Nephite blow brought death, but the Nephites only fell every once in a while because the more vital parts of their bodies were shielded by armor.   Now, I don’t know about you, but this gives me a peculiar-but-impressive idea of what a clash between Nephite and Lamanite looked like. They approach, they swing at each other, the Nephite sword connects once, and the Lamanite falls. This is different from our perhaps cinema-informed ideas of combat in which swords clash against each other, one attacking, another parrying, causing it to take time and effort to push through the opponents guard. 

If the Nephite can kill a Lamanite almost with every stroke, then the Lamanite swords aren’t stopping the Nephite swords.  And if the Lamanite swords aren’t stopping the attack, then the Lamanites are either incompetent at defense, or they are trying to do something different.  Perhaps making their own attack.

This suggests a different way of doing battle than we might be used to. Perhaps the Nephites did not parry or block their opponents’ weapons. Perhaps when they raised their swords, they avoided the Lamanite swords and went straight for the kill-strike at the same time that the Lamanites were trying to hit them back.  It may even be that they allowed the Lamanites to hit them and trusted the armor to protect them. While the Lamanites struck, they struck the Lamanites. Since the Lamanites had no armor, every blow was guaranteed to do damage.  (Swords in Mesoamerica consisted of many obsidian blades struck along both edges of a club. One swipe across the neck with one of those babies shreds open your enemy’s jugular vein and death comes quickly.)

This teaches us about the importance of putting on the armor of God. Otherwise, every temptation that hits us, we will give in, and that brings spiritual death.  The odd way the Nephites fought also says something about how to hit back at the temptations.  If temptations entice with a twisted combination of truth and lie, strike directly at the lie. Hit it hard with the truth you know. (And if you don’t know what the lie is, pray hard for revelation and power to resist and for discernment. The Spirit will eventually show you where the lie is.)

Lehi’s Prophecies about Israel in 1 Nephi 10

1 Nephi 10 is kind of overlooked by us today because it is pretty much a summary of Lehi’s prophecies at that point in time.  It is almost like a chapter heading itself, except it is longer.

The notable thing about this chapter is its lack of notability.  There is nothing that surprises us because we know that it all happened as Lehi said.  Jerusalem was destroyed.  The Jews were carried away to Babylon and later brought back.  The Savior was born.  A prophet came to prepare the way for the Messiah and said what it was predicted he would say. That prophet baptized the Messiah and witnessed who it was.  The gospel was preached to the Jews, the Jews dwindled in unbelief, and they killed the Messiah.  The Messiah rose from the dead and made Himself manifest to the Gentiles through the Holy Ghost.  Israel was scattered again. 

Again, we know all this happened, and it may be really tempting for unbelieving readers to say that Joseph Smith just wrote a summary of important events in the Bible and this wasn’t really prophecy.  But I think that fails to understand the function of the chapter.  If the object was to commit fraud and fool us into believing, it is too obvious.  It is too easy for a suspicious person to “detect” and disbelieve, therefore it is really prophecy, and it is instead allowing the reader to choose whether to believe or not, meaning it is a test of the reader more than a test of the writer.  You have to believe in modern prophecy and seership in order to believe in ancient prophecy and seership.

So we must think about the function of this summary.  For Nephi it may have acted as a way to preserve the most salient elements of his father’s prophecies, and for him these were points of faith.  And considering he was writing this all while looking in retrospect of the prophecies, and since he was about to tell us about his vision/interpretation of Lehi’s dream, it seems that he picked out the points that corresponded to his vision, which makes him and his father two witnesses as to the truth of the future-history he is about to reveal.  In essence, Nephi sets his father as the first witness of the future and himself as the second.  (He does this most clearly when he quotes from Isaiah then quotes his brother Jacob, and then calls attention to those quotations as 2 witnesses in addition to his own.)

Now, one thing that puzzled me was why it was important to reveal so much information about John the Baptist to the Lehites and at this stage of time.  Usually the focus is on the Messiah, so why does the prophetic eye fall upon John the Baptist in such detail?

Right now my best answer is this—I think it is a sign that in spite of being scattered physically from Israel, it was for the Lord to show the Lehites that they were still grafted into Israel spiritually and that to those who are a part of Israel there is no difficulty in obtaining a knowledge of the counsels and will of the Lord in any time and place.  It is a manifestation of the grace and generosity of the Lord in bestowing knowledge that will connect His people’s together though they may be separated by hundreds of years and thousands of miles. 

For those of us who believe in prophecy, this chapter is a sign to us that prophecy is real.  The Lehites knew about John the Baptist long before he lived and far away from where he lived.  The prophecy coming true is confirmed to us in a totally different book—the Bible.

It also helps give us confidence that the other prophecies Nephi shares that have yet to happen will come to pass.

Complaints Lehi is a Visionary Man

Lehi is accused by his family (particularly Laman and Lemuel) so many times of being “a visionary man” who is “led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart” that it seems to me we must spend some time thinking about it and what it means.

It is possible Lehi had a tendency to get big ideas that were too much for him to implement or that fizzled when he tried them or that distracted him.  If this had been a common occurrence, it would be really easy for his family to roll their eyes at his insistence they leave Jerusalem.  We have no idea if this was really the case because the Book of Mormon only shows he was right and shows nothing indicating he was ever wrong.  All we have is the frequent repetition of “visionary man” or “led by the foolish imaginations of his heart,” which hint at incidents of failure.

Looked at from this perspective (which is a speculative one, I might add) we start to understand the extraordinary faith it took for Lehi to lead his family out into the wilderness and for his family to follow.  Lehi had a vision, yes, but would his family believe him?   From this perspective, Laman and Lemuel’s concerns appear much more rational, and Nephi’s faith seems even more amazing.  We begin to see why Nephi had to pray for his own witness that his father was doing the right thing.  If Lehi hadn’t had a past history of fizzled big ideas why would he need to?  We see how much reason Sariah had to rejoice when her son actually did return with the brass plates, obtained under such miraculous conditions.  It was a sign that God really was behind it!

It is one thing to follow someone who is always right and whose grand ideas always work out, but it is quite another to follow someone who has had lots of grand ideas in the past that didn’t work out.  How does one know if this person is really inspired? 

This question is also one I ask of myself, since I have had a lot of big ideas that never quite came to fruition (although I’ve had a pretty fair number that have worked too).  Failure has happened enough that I often find myself feeling rather Laman-and-Lemuel-ish toward myself, wondering, “Okay, is this another one of THOSE ideas?”  This is one reason why I am grateful for my patriarchal blessing and for the scriptures and the prophets’ words.  I try to measure my aspirations and dreams and “brilliant ideas” by them.

Sometimes we talk about Laman and Lemuel as if their arguments had no basis in reality.  But when we consider that they had very good reason for their concerns in this aspect, they become real opponents, not strawmen, which then makes Nephi’s acts and words of faith and the miracles of the family’s preservation all the more powerful. 

In Which I Muck About With Prophecy in 2 Nephi 3

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In 2 Nephi 3, Lehi gives his words of goodbye to his son Joseph and prophesies of Joseph Smith and Moses.  We know this chapter pretty well, yes?  After all, a whole Sunday school lesson focuses on this chapter.

One of the things that has puzzled me about this chapter is that Lehi shares this prophecy with his son Joseph as if it has great significance for his son.  Yet Lehi’s son Joseph is not one of the people talked about in the prophecy!  It’s like a dying father saying, “My son, you have great reason to rejoice because some day this prophecy will be fulfilled even though you’ll never see it or know these people or play any part in it.”  It deserves a great big “SO WHAT?!” not only from Lehi’s son Joseph, but also from the rest of us.

So I had to go hunting for the significance it would have to Lehi’s son Joseph and also to us.  We can already easily imagine Joseph Smith would recognize himself in the prophecy, what with his translating and his father named Joseph too, but what about the other people?  There’s a bit of a hint in v3-5:

3 And now, Joseph, my last-born, whom I have brought out of the wilderness of mine afflictions, may the Lord bless thee forever, for thy seed shall not utterly be destroyed.

4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph.

5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.

The prospect of the seed of Joseph (son of Lehi) being partially destroyed is not cheering, BUT Lehi points out the prophecy of a righteous branch that would be broken off, yet remembered in the covenants, and even though they would fall into darkness, they would be brought to the light by another of Joseph in Egypt’s seed.  And much of the rest of the prophecy is about this seer.  The part Lehi was trying to underline for his son was that this prophecy made so many years ago was now on its way to fulfillment.  Their exit from Jerusalem and journey to the new world marked the commencement and they could call themselves that “righteous branch…broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered.”   I suppose we can learn from this that the only thing that can come close to the excitement of watching prophecy be fulfilled is to watch the pieces of prophecy fall into place on the way to future fulfillment and find that your family is directly involved. 

The other thing Lehi was excited about was a prospect that one of Joseph (son of Lehi) descendents would end up being this choice seer that would do so much good.  This I find frankly confusing.  I don’t know if we’ve traced Joseph Smith Jr.’s ancestry all the way back to Lehi’s son Joseph.  Seems to me I heard somewhere that JS ancestry has been traced to Ireland.  Does this mean there is some crazy genetic linkage making JS a descendant of Lehi’s Joseph?  Who knows?  I’ll leave that to the skilled genealogists to work out.  Another possibility is that there may be a second seer, one that comes directly out of Lehi’s Joseph’s lineage to help other descendants of Lehi to the light.  Let’s look at v23-24:

23 Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shall hearken unto the words of the book.

24 And there shall rise up one mighty among them, who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren.

Lehi specifically states that Joseph’s (son of Lehi) seed would hearken to the book and one of his seed would rise up and do much good and bring much restoration to the house of Israel and to the seed of Lehi.

If we assume that the restoration has been done already, then we tend to think this means Joseph Smith.  If so, then Joseph Smith is somehow a descendent of Joseph (son of Lehi).

But if we assume there is more to be restored (like, say, the implementation of a city called Zion..), then it becomes likely that another mighty one is to rise up, most likely through the ranks of the priesthood leadership, one who IS a descendant of Lehi’s Joseph.  And they’d have to be pretty dang awesome to stick out among all the fabulous priesthood leadership we already have, such that we can point to them as a fulfillment of Book of Mormon prophecy.

Naturally, these thoughts of mine are outside the usual discussions on this chapter.  Might I be wrong?  Of course!  But I am also willing to admit that there can be much more prophesied that we don’t recognize until it comes to pass right under our noses, and we do believe that there will yet be revealed many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Also, the important thing for us to realize is the prophecy “thy seed…shall hearken unto the words of the book” is in the process of fulfillment right now with missionary work to South and Central America.  How exciting for the missionaries who get to be a part of that!  How exciting for the new converts coming into the church there! 

A Nephite Dissenter Helps Bring Lamanites to Repentance and Belief in Christ, Helaman 5:35-43

In the Book of Helaman, the brothers Nephi and Lehi are thrown into prison and as an army of Lamanites enter the prison to take them to put them to death, an extraordinary display of power begins as Nephi and Lehi are surrounded by fire but are not burned, the prison is hit by an earthquake and a dark cloud that overshadows all of them, and a voice from heaven is heard telling the army to repent and stop seeking to destroy His servants.

Something else extraordinary happens.  A Nephite dissenter becomes an instrument for God to make meaning for the Lamanite army and bring them to repentance.

35 Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.

36 And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld.

37 And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and look. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and look; and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi.

38 And they said unto the man: Behold, what do all these things mean, and who is it with whom these men do converse?

39 Now the man’s name was Aminadab. And Aminadab said unto them: They do converse with the angels of God.

40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?

41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.

42 And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed.

43 And it came to pass that when they cast their eyes about, and saw that the cloud of darkness was dispersed from overshadowing them, behold, they saw that they were encircled about, yea every soul, by a pillar of fire. (Helaman 5:35-43)

It is so interesting to me that the Lamanite army gets the message of repentance from Lehi and Nephi and from the voice from heaven, but they still don’t understand until told by someone else they trust.  They are told not to fear the fire that suddenly surrounds the men they want to kill.  They are told by the voice of God in a mild and pleasant tone that pierced, but they didn’t begin to listen and act until told by this Aminadab who became a sort of interpreter and guide through the marvels they saw.  (It is not completely clear whether Aminadab was another prisoner or if he was part of the Lamanite army.  Regardless, they resort to his direction in their confusion and fear.)

This is curious because Aminadab’s explanation wasn’t exactly clear.  It was garbled and full of what we would consider jargon.  He said, “You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.” (v41)  There are no explanations as to why they should have faith in Christ or how, and a reference to teachers from 40 years before, but not much about what those teachers said about Christ!  So do we assume that the soldiers knew what Aminadab was talking about?  Or do we assume that they didn’t? 

I’ve wondered for a long time just what about Aminadab’s instructions galvanized the other soldiers to action.  Eventually I realized that Aminadab’s instructions were uniquely formulated for those who did not have faith in Christ.  He told them to repent and pray to the voice until they had faith in Christ, and he promised that if they did so, the darkness would be lifted.  

Do you see how much faith that would take to promise that?  That's not a promise anyone can make lightly.  We are much more used to the idea of praying and then waiting in expectation than we are used to the idea of praying continuously until the result we need/want happens.  After all, if one decides to pray until the desired result happens, one might pray for a really long time, and can that kind of praying be kept up?  (It can--remember Enos?--and it is us who think it isn't necessary.)

It seems to me Aminadab could not have given those insightful instructions to his fellows unless he had previously tried them himself.  If so, it would mark him as a person very similar to Abish, living among unbelievers, yet having learned to believe and have faith in Christ.    We can imagine that he once dissented from the Nephites, probably because he didn’t have faith in Christ as was taught to him by Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom.  Yet their words continued to come back to him until he began to see that he had to do something if he was ever going to get over the issue of his lack of faith, so in some way he settled upon the idea of repenting and praying determinedly until he had that faith in Christ.  He carried out his plan, and faith came as he hoped.   So his presence there was certainly part of the Lord’s plan to help save the rest of his companions.

Aminadab’s instructions make this story a very powerful help for us if we or our family members or friends ever struggle with lack of faith.   The key is to repent and pray to God until faith in Christ comes.  Another way we can apply this kind of faith to pray until our desire is granted is to pray to resist temptation when temptation comes.  We can pray for the power to resist until the temptation goes away.  I have done that before and it works.  

Why eight years in the wilderness?

One question that I’ve had in my mind for a long time about the story in 1 Nephi is,  "Why it took Lehi's people eight years to journey in the wilderness to the seashore at Bountiful?"

I ran across a chapter online recently called “Sojourn,Dwell, and Stay: Terms of Servitude”  from the book From Jerusalem toZarahemla: Literary and Historical Studies of the Book of Mormon by S. Kent Brown that makes a case from scattered references that Lehi and his family members were brought into servitude or under the domination of desert tribesmen either for protection or for food and this is what took up the eight years. 

His evidences of this are built upon the following factors:

1)   Nephi uses the term “sojourn” which is also connected in Bible text to the experience of living as a resident alien in territory where one owns no property.  (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph in Egypt, and the children of Israel all sojourned at various points.)

2)   Laman and Lemuel all speak in retrospect of their sufferings being so great that it would have been better to have died than to leave Jerusalem.  (A difficult period of servitude would naturally cause this kind of evaluation, as it would be a definite drop in status.)

3)   Lehi speaks of this period as “the wilderness of mine afflictions” and “the days of my greatest sorrow” even though he was well-equipped for desert living.  Something even greater than family tensions and physical difficulties seems to weighed him down.

4)   Alma speaks to his son Helaman about the necessity of remembering how the Lord brought their fathers out of Jerusalem and delivered them out of bondage and captivity, which suggests there was at least one incident of divine deliverance from bondage in the story of Lehi and Nephi and that it wasn’t referring to the much more reent deliverance from slavery to the Lamanites.

5)   The time it takes a loaded caravan of camels travel from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian ocean is measured in weeks not years, which suggested that they had to have stayed in one or several places for extended periods of time.

6)   When Lehi teaches his sons in the promised land, he uses imagery of freedom and bondage to teach about the importance of choosing Christ . (I counted eleven major instances in 2 Nephi 1-2 where this is the case.) This imagery would lack power if they hadn’t experienced some sort of servility, but if they had experienced it, then Lehi’s admonitions would be all the more penetrating.

I have an additional supporting point.  When Nephi confronts his brothers over their lack of faith to help build the ship, he uses in his arguments references to the exodus of the children of Israel out of bondage to counter their assertions that it would have been better to stay in Jerusalem or to have died than to have suffered as they had.   He leaves this reference about the good of coming out of bondage hanging in the air without any textual attempt to liken it to his hearers, and if we assume that Lehi’s family never experienced bondage or servility, this seems off topic, but if they did experience it, then Nephi clearly expected his brothers to get his point without having to even say, “..and just like it was good for them to escape, it was also a good thing for us to get out of bondage!”

Brown's thesis makes a lot of sense to me and it sheds light on some things that were previously puzzling, but it also brings me to wonder why Nephi would have left such something so big out of his record.  Perhaps it was featured more prominently on his first set of plates but he didn’t consider it as much a sacred thing to recount...?  Maybe he wanted the room for his prophecies?

I don’t know.   What do you think?